Hull safety giant Arco has once more stepped into the breach when it comes to national guidance on PPE.
The company’s 10-point plan to aid future procurement went to the heart of government, and now it is setting out recommendations on improving product safety legislation.
Arco is calling for tighter regulation of suppliers and online retail platforms, with a need for reform and greater funding of regulatory systems to protect consumers.
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It follows the emergence of sub-standard safety equipment into the market at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, putting many at risk and potentially costing lives.
Earlier in the summer, the Government published its Product Safety Review, calling for evidence and recommendations on how to strengthen outdated legislation to protect consumers from unsafe products.
Now Arco has published its latest position paper in response.
Thomas Martin, Arco’s chairman, said: “The creation of a new product safety framework is a task that we should see as lasting beyond the pandemic – and necessitates a full assessment of what is working, and what is not. There is an acute need to look at the structures that protect us from everyday risk, from substandard goods and unscrupulous businesses and we believe it is important to continue our work on what lessons can be learnt from the pandemic, to ensure the country can be better prepared for future emergencies.
“We are encouraged that BEIS and OPSS has recognised many of the themes and concerns we set out in this paper in their initial response to the Product Safety Review, and we look forward to working constructively with them and more widely across government as they begin the work of developing proposals for more overarching legislative and regulatory reform.
“Our recommendations reflect the work of our experts, our experience as the UK’s leading safety company, as a major importer of regulated goods, and as a supplier to the UK Government and public sector. It reflects what we have said to government, to parliament and to our colleagues across the sector. Together, we believe we can build a safer future.”
The paper, Towards a Safer Future: Arco’s Vision For a New, Fit For Purpose Product Safety Framework, reflects on the lessons learnt during the pandemic.
It has identified a number of vulnerabilities and threats to consumer safety that have arisen as a result of the growth of the digital economy, the challenges posed by post-Brexit regulatory changes, and the continued reliance on a fragmented system of regulation, monitoring, compliance and enforcement for product safety.
The Arco team led by Mr Martin, who addressed the Public Accounts Committee on the Covid PPE controversy, makes a series of recommendations in six key areas, focussing on harnessing innovation and expertise within the UK safety sector, building a system that is easy to navigate but harder to circumvent and developing a product safety framework that is fit for the future.
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